Dubai Woman Spends Thousands to Veganize Her Lexus

Rhea Bindra spent an extra $8,000 to remove all leather from the steering wheel of her Lexus NX200.

India-born Dubai resident Rhea Bindra recently purchased luxury vehicle Lexus NX200 and paid an extra 30,000 Dirham ($8,000) to remove all leather from the car’s steering wheel to make it fully vegan. The 27-year-old adopted a vegan lifestyle last year after following a vegetarian diet since the age of 15. “For a population of seven billion people in the world,” Bindra explained, “50-60 billion animals and 2.1 trillion marine life are killed every year for their meat, dairy, and factory farming. I am averse to animal cruelty and have decided not to consume or use byproducts of animals.” Bindra is an avid advocate of the vegan lifestyle when it comes to fashion and beauty products as well. She removed all clothes that contained animal products from her closet last year and only purchases cosmetics from vegan brands such as Kat Von D Beauty. Bindra advocates cruelty-free living to those around her and has thus far convinced a local restaurant in the Jumeirah Lakes Towers to permanently add vegan options to its menu; turned her parents, sister, and colleague Viktoria Carmona onto the vegan diet; and persuaded online shoe designer Sundeep Sen to create a silk- and leather-free vegan shoe style in her honor.